Support NeoGAF

[Draugoth]

• Season of Discovery coming to WoW Classic, with things like Warlock tanks and Mage healers. Capped at 25 with a level 25 endgame.

A Return to the World-Altering Events of Azeroth​

Cataclysm Classic, a reimagined version of the 2010 expansion, is set to transport players back to the world-altering events of Azeroth. Fans of the MMORPG have longed for the days of Deathwing’s fiery wrath, and now they will have the chance to experience the expansion once again, but with a twist. Blizzard is taking a unique approach by actively involving the player community in shaping this recreation of Cataclysm.

Player-Driven Development: A New Approach​

During the announcement, J. Allen Brack, President of Blizzard Entertainment, took to the stage and addressed the enthusiastic crowd. He emphasized the importance of community feedback and the close relationship between players and developers. “We’ve been listening to your passionate discussions about what you loved and didn’t love in Cataclysm, and we’re excited to bring a Cataclysm Classic experience that incorporates your valuable input,” Brack announced.

A Dynamic Feedback Loop with Players​

Blizzard intends to create a dynamic feedback loop with the player base to make adjustments to the Cataclysm Classic experience. Players will have the opportunity to participate in surveys, forums, and beta testing, offering suggestions and opinions on changes they’d like to see in the classic version of the expansion.

Refining the Classic Experience​

Some of the initial changes discussed during the presentation include rebalancing of class abilities, addressing difficulty spikes in certain dungeons and raids, and refining the pacing of content progression. Blizzard is keen to keep the spirit of Cataclysm intact while making the experience more enjoyable and engaging for both newcomers and veterans.

Excitement Among the Player Base​

This novel approach to involving the community in the development of a classic expansion has generated a wave of excitement among World of Warcraft players. Longtime fan Sarah Thornton said, “I can’t believe they’re letting us have a say in how Cataclysm Classic will turn out. It’s a dream come true for many of us who’ve been playing for years.”

A Release on the Horizon​

Blizzard Entertainment aims to release Cataclysm Classic with community-driven changes in the near future, but a specific release date has not yet been provided.

A Testament to Blizzard’s Strong Bond with Players​

BlizzCon 2023’s announcement of Cataclysm Classic with player-inspired changes is not only a celebration of nostalgia but also a testament to the strong bond between Blizzard and its passionate player base. World of Warcraft players are now eagerly looking forward to reliving the epic battles and challenges of Cataclysm while shaping the classic experience with their feedback.

 

[Bry0]

Uh, is anyone even nostalgic for cata?
I mean, selling the same expansions over again… just incredible lmao

 

[TransTrender]

I was a dedicated player from launch until our first few raids in Cata.
Shit was trash yo.
Never went back.

Also double doesn't make sense to call it 'Classic'.

 

[Gaiff]

Imagine paying monthly only to get served 13-year-old content.

 

[Skifi28]

One of the worst expansions, who wants this? Are we also going to get classic Pandaria next? "Classic" kinda loses its point once you start releasing everything. Not to mention you divide the playerbase and then some of the best old expansions where player numbers are very important might become ghostowns.

 

[LectureMaster]

Excitement Among the Player Base​

 

[March Climber]

For WoW fans, is this a good or bad thing? I've heard and read people saying they wanted a split-timeline with classic so that modern and classic are telling two different stories. Would that have been preferrable to Cata-classic?

 

[Kagoshima_Luke]

This was the expansion that nearly killed wow and they want to go back to it?

 

[Thyuda]

 

[Gaiff]

This was the expansion that nearly killed wow and they want to go back to it?

They're pretty much redoing WOW all over again with Classic. Talk about creative bankruptcy.

 

[Kilau]

One of the worst expansions, who wants this? Are we also going to get classic Pandaria next? "Classic" kinda loses its point once you start releasing everything. Not to mention you divide the playerbase and then some of the best old expansions where player numbers are very important might become ghostowns.

Will be awesome when classic catches up to regular WoW and they can launch Classic Classic and start over again.

 

[AV]

Can't wait for 8 pages of "nobody wanted this Cata was trash"

Cata was still an insanely popular game on the market. It's just that you'd all been playing WoW for 6 years, had just killed Arthas, and were done with it, but millions of others kept playing. Like 75% of the player base. Anyone who's played a Cata private server knows that it's a good expansion, they removed the bloated talents, had a good tier and a great tier (Dragon Soul was shite obviously), good dungeons, great class balance and specs (moonkins finally, finally good) etc. Nobody is going to level a new character in Classic anyway so the world change stuff just doesn't matter.

The whole "Cata isn't classic" shtick is so tired. It's a 13 year old expansion, it's almost as old as vanilla was when Classic dropped. Still gonna suck because Blizzard are doing it, but this was inevitable from the minute Classic was a moderate success. They'll do Pandas too.

 

[diffusionx]

Wasn't Cataclysm widely panned and cited as a main trigger for WOW's decline? Didn't people want Classic to get away from Cataclysm?

Are they drunk?

 

[diffusionx]

Can't wait for 8 pages of "nobody wanted this Cata was trash"

Cata was still an insanely popular game on the market. It's just that you'd all been playing WoW for 6 years, had just killed Arthas, and were done with it, but millions of others kept playing. Like 75% of the player base. Anyone who's played a Cata private server knows that it's a good expansion, they removed the bloated talents, had a good tier and a great tier (Dragon Soul was shite obviously), good dungeons, great class balance and specs (moonkins finally, finally good) etc. Nobody is going to level a new character in Classic anyway so the world change stuff just doesn't matter.

The whole "Cata isn't classic" shtick is so tired. It's a 13 year old expansion, it's almost as old as vanilla was when Classic dropped. Still gonna suck because Blizzard are doing it, but this was inevitable from the minute Classic was a moderate success. They'll do Pandas too.

An expansion chases away a quarter of its userbase and you cite this as a positive?

 

[AV]

An expansion chases away a quarter of its userbase and you cite this as a positive?

Three quarters of its userbase was still nine million people. It also took the entire expansion for that figure to drop to nine million.

Don't get me wrong, it's not as good as Wrath, it just isn't. But a lot of the reason people left was simply because they were done with the game, not because that particular expansion drove them away. It's kinda hard to top Arthas as a villain in the Warcraft universe, they've never done it and have had to rely on bringing him and Illidan back eventually I think.

 

[The Cockatrice]

Guess Ill have to resub for a month to play WoTLK one more time before I see it gone forever, again.

 

[Skifi28]

Will be awesome when classic catches up to regular WoW and they can launch Classic Classic and start over again.

 

[AV]

Guess Ill have to resub for a month to play WoTLK one more time before I see it gone forever, again.

There's so many private Wrath servers dude. Dalaran's been online for like a decade. They're closer to original Wrath than Classic is considering all the Mythic+ stuff, tokens etc. in the official version.

 

[The Cockatrice]

There's so many private Wrath servers dude. Dalaran's been online for like a decade. They're closer to original Wrath than Classic is considering all the Mythic+ stuff, tokens etc. in the official version.

Meh, they were buggy the last time I played on them, granted was many years ago, and they were kinda dead. I dunno. I was mostly jesting resubbing, will see. Too many games to play, doubt Ill have the time.

 

[AV]

Meh, they were buggy the last time I played on them, granted was many years ago, and they were kinda dead. I dunno. I was mostly jesting resubbing, will see. Too many games to play, doubt Ill have the time.

Fair enough, they've come a very very long way though. There's a Vanilla+ server launching (hopefully) next year which is absolutely insane. More care and attention to detail than Blizzard ever gave Classic. Played two betas and cannot wait.

 

[Senua]

Imagine paying monthly only to get served 13-year-old content.

Absolutely retarded.

People shit on old school runescape but they did it right, instead of just following the same path the original game took they went their own path designing unique content designed around the original principles of why people loved the older game in the first place

 

[Ulysses 31]

They're pretty much redoing WOW all over again with Classic. Talk about creative bankruptcy.

But in this case, it's the customers that wanted classic servers.

 

[Nydius]

Officially jumped the shark on the "classic" title. The whole point of classic was to go back to the original game before the Cataclysm completely changed everything. I don't know anyone who is nostalgic to play Cataclysm and the basic Azeroth world in retail is still the quest lines that Cataclysm introduced.

Cataclysm was the beginning of the end for myself and damn near everyone I used to raid with from vanilla through Wrath. I managed to limp along through Pandaria and most of Draenor but by the time I left, literally everyone I used to know had quit. An exodus that began with the launch of Cata.

 

[Syphon Filter]

that is dumb to removed existing things and bring it back lol.

 

[Tg89]

Officially jumped the shark on the "classic" title. The whole point of classic was to go back to the original game before the Cataclysm completely changed everything. I don't know anyone who is nostalgic to play Cataclysm and the basic Azeroth world in retail is still the quest lines that Cataclysm introduced.

Cataclysm was the beginning of the end for myself and damn near everyone I used to raid with from vanilla through Wrath. I managed to limp along through Pandaria and most of Draenor but by the time I left, literally everyone I used to know had quit. An exodus that began with the launch of Cata.

Yeah I mean they were always going to milk it. They'll get to classic shadowlands if the money is there.

Regardless, Classic gave us an official way to play Vanilla indefinitely (at least it would seem that way), which was always the best case scenario outcome. BC and Wrath were fun to go through again but Vanilla was always the mvp.

 

[squarealex]

And then, they go erase BC / WOTLK again..

They never understand... just seperate WoW BC / WOTLK with this shitty Cataclysm